There are signs of turmoil surrounding the launch of Dr. Oz The Good Life, the joint venture between the heart surgeon and talk show host Dr. Mehmet Oz and Hearst Corp.
Within the past week, two key people on the five-person art and design team have departed, only days before the debut issue hits newsstands on Feb. 4.
Sources said that the top person, Design Director Cass Spencer who is largely responsible for the look of the new magazine, was out on Wednesday after clashing with Hearst Editorial Director Ellen Levine.
Photo Director Jenny Sargent, who joined the launch team from The Hollywood Reporter last year, also left to take the job of deputy photo director at Billboard. Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter are owned by Guggenheim Media.
Said a Hearst spokeswoman, “As you know of course, when magazines are in startup mode, changes occur. Jenny was consulting here and is leaving to take a full time position; Cass is no longer here.”
The magazine is one of the few big-budget launches from a major publisher in the last year.
Sources said Hearst is putting up $15 million for the launch but giving Oz 50 percent ownership and control over the edit. Lisa Oz, his wife, is on the masthead in the No. 3 spot as editor-at-large, behind Founding Editor Dr. Oz and Editor-in-Chief Alison Brower.
Levine is considered the godmother of joint ventures, since she played such a big role in persuading Oprah Winfrey to do a magazine with Hearst 15 years ago.
Despite recent slippage, O was the fastest magazine to make a profit in corporate history. But it also had a lot of editorial turmoil at its start, and the launch editor was gone within the first year.
More recently, Levine has worked on The Food Network Magazine and HGTV Magazine, both of which turned profits within two years — considered a good record compared to the industry norm of five years of investment before profit.
In the past, Oz has generally had a good impact on other magazines’ newsstand sales whenever he has appeared on their covers.
But there have also been a few clunkers in the mix, suggesting there is a limit to his drawing power, even as he continues to enjoy his status as the No. 4 syndicated talk-show host.
A big part of his success, if he is to have it, will be built on developing a strong appeal to readers on newsstands.
That will not be easy. MagNet, which tracks the industry, reported on Friday that “newsstand sales malaise continued in the second half of 2013, prolonging a trend that has now extended over five years.” The report found unit sales in the six-month period dropped 12 percent, while revenue dropped 9.1 percent.
A Hearst spokeswoman insisted, “We’re extremely happy with the first pilot issue and working on the second, on sale April 15.” The magazine’s pre-ordered subscriptions have hit 65,000, she said.